236 ZOOPHYTES. 



point of attachment, they hesitated not to describe 

 them as sea-weeds or mosses. They could discover 

 in their leaf-like expansions, in their graceful 

 sprays, no similarity to any living creature yet 

 known as the resident of earth or air, or of the 

 deep waters; and they had not as yet unfolded 

 that page of Nature's book, which, after a series 

 of patient and diligent investigation, has revealed 

 to modern observers a new world of wonders, a 

 new lesson of Almighty skill and design, as indi- 

 cative to the thoughtful mind of the work of God, 

 and as sublime in its influence over our spirits as 

 are the teachings of the stars and suns of the lofty 

 skies. 



In the few pages to which we must limit our 

 remarks, little can be done beyond describing some 

 few of the commonest zoophytes of our shores, and 

 naming such facts respecting them as may awaken 

 an interest in the subject, and lead the reader to 

 seek for further information. The zoophytes are 

 well described as plant-liks animals, the greater 

 number of them being also compound animals. 

 Thus when we speak of a zoophyte, we usually 

 include the stony, or horny, or membranous fabric 

 or case, and the polypes, the little living creature 

 which dwells in these structures, which make 

 them, and are indeed a part of them. In these 

 skeletons or polypidoms, it may be that thousands 

 of individuals exist, all united by a living thread, 

 running through every part, and constituting a 

 common circulation. Different individuals are 

 they, and yet the same; their feelings, their in- 

 terests, and labours, all under the influence of one 

 harmonious instinct; and yet each flower-like 

 polype having so far independent consciousness, 



